[Anonymous]

[MarcusUK]

As Alex reports, further changes on the Australia routes with SQ are being made again, the 4th change in a year.

We have had:
-747’s with old style Raffles cabins.
-777-200ER’s with old style Raffles cabins at 2-3-2- OR 2-2-2-!
-777-300 – a refurbished aircraft overnight SIN – SYD, with new “regional seating”.
-777-300ER’s with the new F & C Seats & cabins.
-A380’s with new F & C Seats & Cabins.

The changes made a few months ago placed more of the new style cabins & seating, with 777=300ER’s added with an A380.
Now they downgraded again, with 2 x 777-200’s which may well vary in configurations, but old style cabins, but 2 x A380’s now.
(I have flown in all cabins, on all aircraft in the last 3 years).

This adds further problems for connections from the UK in an inconsistency of cabin & aircraft from Europe to Australia. The new C Seat is in the 777-300( refurbished) First cabin, that you may have flown in C from another route.
What a mess SQ have created in the last 18 months!

Seats on this route are booked months ahead, & you may well find yr cabin & seat changed- yet again for your travel. Many BT readers have contributed their experiences on SQ in previous posts, with high criticism, dis-satisfaction, & falling standards on SQ, and BT & Alex have written articles on these. The situation is being compounded.

Miles redemptions on SQ are Severely restricted if not suspended in F & C cabins from most of the worlds FF programs. VS Flying Club has suspended ALL redemptions in F Or C on SQ. BMI DC you can only book “Old style cabins/ aircraft”.
Finding a route out of the UK, let alone Europe, through to Australia is virtually impossible. Spending of miles on SQ, has been reduced to Old generation cabins, aircraft, & low quality, shabby, sub-class of travel.

I decided sometime ago, SQ had become too unreliable to make paid bookings, & too restricted to make Miles redemptions. The” One meal” Business service overnight on the SQ SIN – SYD SQ (Would you like yr meal after we take off or for breakfast”), when the flight can take 9 hrs. The race for real food, & cheese, fruits, desserts simply run out or have 2 available in the SQ C lounges, withdrawal of alcohol unless you ask for it stored in the kitchen…

The in-roads into the Asia – Australasia custom has been significant & dramatic by Emirates & Etihad especially, in choosing a Europe – Oz region flight. Many are not travelling via The Far East anymore.
Similar situation with Thai Airways, services & seats have been reduced, configurations unpredictable. Malaysian have old aircraft & faded, dated & shabby these days ,frequent technical problems & delays, the lounges in states of dis-repair. BA has reduced capacity & flights to Australia, losing money on this route.
Qantas are proving popular with the A380 services, & a well regarded PE cabin. Air NZ are also consistently well regarded with PE & C cabins, and they have not reduced services in your travel experience.
This is not just the recent downturn in the world economics & restrictions on travel.

Is this the impact of the A380’s coming into service?
The Middle Eastern Airlines inroads taking business?
The popular Premium Economy cabins being a preference?
(MH & CX are adding this cabin to new aircraft, many others are upgrading theirs)

Either way, consistency in seating, cabins, & Aircraft is vital when choosing to make a booking with any Airline.
SQ have created not just 3 cabin classes, but also a Sub-standard of travel, & certainly they wont allow redemptions on their aircraft.

Perhaps they should withdraw from Star Alliance, as an Airline that allows us to spend our hard earned miles, & be up front & honest about it!
I fail to see how they can maintain their 5* rating with the complaints I hear on BT, & the lowering of standards in every aspect of their travel, out of step with any other Airline!

[VintageKrug]

Typical balderdash:

Quote MarcusUK/MarkRoberts9: “BA has reduced capacity & flights to Australia, losing money on this route. Qantas are proving popular with the A380 services, & a well regarded PE cabin.”

How can BA be losing money on the route yet Qantas proving popular? BA and Qantas SHARE REVENUES on this route, under the terms of the JSA!

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/ba-qantas-joint-services-agreement-to-be-extended

1. BA has reduced its own metal capacity for the very reason that Qantas has INCREASED capacity with the introduction of its A380. The amount of potential BA codeshare seats to Syney and Melbourne has increased over the past year, not decreased.

2. Please provide linked, referenceable evidence that British Airways is “losing money on this route”. BA does not publish publicly any such information so I would be intrigued to see your source. Or is it yet more hearsay?

I would recommend a pleasant trip on a British Airways Club World fully flat bed to Oz; a much more civilised way to fly and no danger of inconsistency:

http://www.newclubworld.com

[cityprofessional]

More SQ bashing! Look, I am no SQ apologist, but do check your facts. No 2-3-2 C cabin 777 has ever been scheduled on SIN-SYD; the winter schedule shows flat bed A380s on all overnight flights and, in the daytime, either the newly refurbished regional C seats or the Spacebed, which is the best of the sloping flat seats, and better than the non-flat C seats on many of EK’s 777s and A340-500s which still turn up on Aussie routes

There is lots of redemption availability on SQ if you know when/where to look, and book as soon as those seats become available; although there is no premium redemption allowed out of the UK, that’s because, errrr, the flights are full – try routing via CPH, AMS or FRA. Anyway, if you don’t like flying SQ, why do you want to redeem your miles on them? There is plentiful *A redemption availability to Oz on OZ (excellent) and CA (consistent), and LHR-BKK-SYD is more than 99% new configuration on TG (more reliably so than QF or EK). We only complain about SQ redemption availability because it’s more in demand than any other *A airline (which says a lot about what frequent flyers think about SQ)

If, by comparison, you want unreliable, you could try Qantas (A380s going tech, engineers on strike, who knows if your bed will be flat, SIN-Oz connecting flights on Jetstar LCC aircraft) or Emirates (slow/rude/inconsistent service esp. on A380s, overflowing DXB lounge, 777 configuration lottery)

Edited to add… Vintage Krug, any airline can be consistent on 1 or 2 daily flights to SYD; SQ is perfectly consistent on its 2 daily A380s from LHR-SYD. I would certainly vote for the superior privacy, AVOD, service and food of SQ’s new C on its A380s and 77Ws over New Club World. And you’ll be in for a shock when you find your codeshare New Club World ticket buys you a premium economy-style seat on Jetstar’s codeshare SIN-MEL flight…

[PsyDtoBe]

@ MarcusUK: it is hardly confusing or disturbing, equipment changed, so what? I noticed you complained on the “old style” business class, well now you got another flight with the “new style” J class, why still complaining?

meanwhile for lowering their standard, you should know that all airlines are doing the same to cut cost due to the financial crisis. Moreover, you still can redeem your Krisflyer (KF) miles on the new business class seat, but not on the saver award, its on award redemption, about 80K one way + 15% discount if you booked online so about (68K/way) not bad! BA cost you about (130K) for their return EC Award in Club World between LHR-SIN, not to mention, if you avoid the high season, you can definitely got it. I would say KF is quiet generous for redeeming and obtaining miles (unlike BA), but stingy on benefits (where BA’s EC stand out)

If you prefer EK, than fly them, take note thou, that you have to transit in Dubai and Singapore/Bangkok before continuing to Oz and most of the time (99% according to their FA in A380 Suites!) their ICE freezed (in First)!

while for meals, try “book the cook”, it’s fantastic, as far as i know only SQ offer that and if you are a fans of Gordon Ramsey, he is one of the SQ’s Chef that provide you with “book the cook” meals from LHR.

http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/exp/dining/icp/index.jsp?v=468601133&

Happy Flying.

[PaulJennings]

You are always at risk of getting bit of a shock transferring from a longhaul business class cabin to a shorthaul business class cabin.

Though I suggest you’ll see more of a difference doing this at Heathrow or Frankfurt, for example, than at Singapore. A transfer from an overnight flight in BA First or CW to an Iberia codeshare will wake you up faster than you can say ‘cafe solo’. And SQ do their best to minimise this by rostering longhaul aircraft on long, overnight or premium regional routes.

[Inquisitive]

SQ policy of either supper or breakfast for flight originating from Singapore is not so difficult to manage. The SQ lounge keep enough food (for F or PPS member, First class lounge is even better). Hence it is ideal (that I follow) to have dinner at lounge then go to sleep after take off and ask for breakfast before landing.

[MarcusUK]

Alex’s investigative articles, & many comments left by BT readers who take these flights rather than observe them, seem to conclude differently. I believe BA in their “prime” regarded Oz as flagship routes, but as Alex commented, they are well past that now.
Qantas’s A380’s are popular, increasing frequency, clearly they are a preferred standard of service. I wonder how long BA will maintain their flights, shared revenue or not?

Getting an SQ flight out of EU is not so easy, unless you take the old style cabins on the 772.

I have taken TG the A340-600 service a few months ago overnight BKK- SYD, & i thought it was a very good service. there were 20 only in C class, & 2/8 in F!
Again their Inconsistencies in the region, switching aircraft, older style cabins, have caused many BT travellers to offer poor experiences.
Etihad & Emirates seem to have a stronghold on the UK-SYD route at least…

[David]

Refreshingly, this morning (whilst researching/booking a J class ticket on Air Canada) the system used a ‘pop-up’ to tell me which flights had the old seating/product. “Flight ACXXX does not feature our new cabin interior.”

What a great service to its loyal customers and potential customers. SQ and CX would do well to follow suit.

[VintageKrug]

Once again, MarkRoberts9/MarcusUK is posting ridiculous and defamatory comments.

You state “BT readers who actually take flights rather than observe them” presumably as yet another attack on me.

When did you last take a BA flight to Sydney? You stated you haven’t flown BA in years.

I have taken two BA round trips to SYD, one in F and on in J, in the past 12 months. I have another one coming up shortly.

I have completed well over 50 sectors on BA so far this year. In the past year I have flown on twelve different airlines, in Europe, USA, Middle East and Far East, Africa as well as two private jets.

To suggest I merely “observe” flights is just ridiculous.

Yet more evidence of you making sweeping statements on matters about which you couldn’t possibly know.

So, I ask you again, where is your referenceable, reputable (not HEARSAY) source that BA “is losing money on this route”.

Don’t have one? Thought not.

I don’t doubt that the profit margins on SYD are minimal, hence the JSA. But MarcusUK/MarkRoberts9 couldn’t possibly have the data to prove the assertion.

[Author]

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